Samsung plans to cut its workforce from departments such as finance, public relations and human resources by as much as 10 percent. There are also plans to cut some of the company's expenses in the coming year.
The decision was made following the decline of the company's market value since April which continued to occur for five straight months. Records show that Samsung saw a drop on its global smartphone shipments with percentage points reaching more than three in this year's second quarter. Moreover, the company lost its status as a top-selling name in China which is a big blow as the country is now considered as the biggest mobile-phone market in the world.
According to data gathered by Bloomberg, Samsung's sales figure last year indicated earnings of 206.2 trillion won ($171 billion) while this year's figure was estimated at 200.2 trillion won ($166 billion).
Samsung attempted to ease the tension on market concerns about its second quarter earnings with the release of its new Galaxy models, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, ahead of the upcoming product announcement of Apple. However, it seemed like the new high-end mobile devices failed to impress customers who in turn caused favorable sales results to rival companies such as Apple including manufacturers from China.
The five-month decline in sales had reportedly caused the company to lose more than $40 billion in market value.
Prior to the decision on cutting jobs, Samsung had also planned to slash the price of its current flagships as sales of the devices didn't turn out as well as they expected and as profits of the company continue to drop.
Samsung said the price adjustment is needed in order to "maintain" momentum. However, the company didn't actually give any timeframe on when they are planning to put the price change into effect.
As of June 30, the company had more than 98,000 employees. This means that its plan to cut jobs by 10 percent would still affect a sizable number of its workforce.
"Cutting jobs is the easiest way to control costs and Samsung's spending on mobile business could also be more tightly controlled," said analyst Chung Chang Won at the Seoul-based Nomura Holdings Inc. "Samsung's preparing to tighten its belt as it isn't likely see rapid profit growth in the years to come."
